Surprise
by theatrenerd87
Summary: Carter's younger sister gets the surprise of a life time
1. Getting to Know You

My name is Elizabeth Carter, but my friends call me Lizzy. I live in Chicago, Illinois. I am a tenth grader at the John A Welsh School, a small private school in the city of Chicago. At the end of the summer my brother, John was going to give me a surprise and I had no clue to what it was. What made it even better was that summer was just around the corner. With all the excitement, I had a hard time staying focused in class and staying still waiting for school to end and waiting to find out what the surprise was. With spring drawing to a close, the end of school was near and the big surprise was almost revealed. My brother, John Carter, is a doctor at County General Hospital here in Chicago. Because he is my only sibling, we have a great relationship. He taught me how to walk and to ride my bike. He was also the subject of my first word, doctor. I even said it in the perfect place with all the family around. It was my usual day at the hospital day care. When I said it the "sitter" paged my brother and told him to come up immediately. Thinking that it was something urgent like I had fallen or something he dropped everything and ran up to see me. The sitter tried to get me to say it again and I did. Then Carter ran downstairs back to work and told what had happened. It was actually very cute from what I have heard.  
We did have another sibling but he died before I was born. My brother does not talk about it much because it brings back such bad memories. It was actually my brother's death that made John want to become a doctor. Bobby, my brother, had leukemia and was about 13 when he died. It was a really hard time for my whole family. My parents had such a hard time and ever since then they have hardly been home. Because they are not home that much, my brother has taken the responsibilities of a father.  
Actually our family has gone through a lot. Bobby's death was what started it all. My brother got stabbed and in the same stabbing his medical student died. After that my brother fought a drug addiction but got over it sort of quickly. I don't remember any of that though because I was too young. And just a couple months ago my grandfather died and it hit the family really hard. We have defiantly been through a lot, but our relationship has gotten us through it. All of this bad stuff that has happened has made John and me even closer than we are and because we are so close, he tells me everything. When he comes home, I like to hear about the people he has taken care of. I love hearing about his patients and about the people he has helped that day. It makes me feel proud for what he has done. When he has late shifts I try to stay up and wait for him but sometimes he just gets home too late. I don't have to worry about getting taken care of though when he does have a late shift because there are a lot of people around the house who make dinner and help me get ready for bed. Oh yeah there is also Gamma, as we call her. I love her and she also helps out when my brother is not home so I don't worry when he is not around. I've actually been to work with him a few times while on vacation and it sort of made me want to become a doctor myself. He has always been my role model. While we are at the hospital he tries to teach me about things like how to read and understand the different monitors. Although I help him sometimes, sometimes I get in the way. Although I don't do the big procedures I do help my brother get the things that he needs. By now I practically know where everything is even if I don't know what it does. I actually like being at the hospital and like it so much that I became a candy striper. It is so cool to work with my brother and other doctors. Sometimes though he gets a little on my nerves, but the two of us always laugh. People usually use me to help with the kids. They think that I can keep them busy and they are right. Sometimes I find it hard to start the conversation, but it finally gets rolling. I have made many friends at the hospital that way. Many people feel scared in hospitals, but since I practically grew up in them it is no sweat off my nose. I remember one kid who was really scared when she saw my brother getting ready to take some blood. I knew how she felt too. Just because I feel comfortable in the hospital does not mean that I like needles. That's where I came in. I told her that there was nothing to worry about and that my brother was a great doctor. As my brother got ready, the girl and I tried to think of ways to help her get through the pain.  
  
"Try looking at my brother's ID card and his silly picture," I whispered. The two of us giggled as Carter rolled his eyes at me. I also told her that she could hold on to my hand if she thought that it would help and as soon as she grabbed my hand I knew that she was ready and gave the signal to my brother. I could see her eyes focusing on his hospital ID and silly picture. Before we knew it my brother told us that he was done. When the girl let go of my hand I thought that it was broken because she had squeezed it so hard. I said that I thought I needed an x-ray but I was only joking and we all giggled. Sometimes being a part of the Carter family is really annoying. Since my brother is a doctor there is no place that we can't go and we don't get Dr. Cartered. Everywhere we go there is someone who recognizes my brother because he has taken care of them at the hospital. It is really embarrassing and I hate it, but I am glad to see that my brother has helped a lot of people and changed their lives forever. Sometimes having a brother that is a doctor is good and sometimes it is bad. Having a doctor around the house means being able to bring all my medical problems to him. Although when I don't want to go to school this could be a bad thing. Being a doctor my brother knows when I am faking it and when I am actually sick. It kind of stinks. Another down side to my brother's job is that he works really weird hours and there is no pattern. One day I could come home from school and he is waiting for me and then the next day he might not be home until 6:00 in the morning. The times that we can see each other we take every chance we get to play jokes on each other. Sometimes we play the same jokes so often they get kind of old, but we still make them. Sometimes we even get some of the people at the hospital in on our little jokes. Last year was one of the best jokes that either of us has played on each other. Last year, I some how managed to plan a surprise party for my brother's thirtieth birthday. When the ER was at one of its quite moments a bunch of us gathered in the lounge and got ready. It was hard keeping my brother busy while we got into action, but we did it. Abby tried everything to keep him out of that lounge. She asked him about patients even if she did not need to. When the door opened, we all shouted surprise and, oh boy, you should have seen the look on his face. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. We got him so good. He told me that he would get me back but I am still waiting. Sometimes after school, when my brother does not have a late shift, I walk over to the hospital to meet Carter, a name that all of his friends call him. When he has a late shift my driver picks me up, because we don't know when my brother is coming home and I need to go home, do homework, and go to sleep so that I can go to school the next morning. Sometimes though Carter picks me up from school, and we go home together. But when I do go met him at work, I walk in the door everyone is so nice. When I see them in the hallway they say "Hi" since they have known me my whole life. Because I am like family and not a patient, I make my way over to the doctors' lounge, where I put my backpack and start my homework. It is so hard to concentrate there with all the noises. What is weird is that one minute it can be quiet and the next could be really noisy. It totally throws off my concentration. It does not help that much either, when my brother comes behind me and puts his hands over my eyes, but it does make me laugh. That joke is so old that it is almost not even funny now. When I have trouble with my subjects I search for someone who can help me. By now I know who can help me with each subject. Like Chuny, the nurse helps me with my Spanish homework, my brother helps me with science, Abby helps with math, Susan helps with English and Mark is great with history. I love being around so many different people whose job is to help their patients although helping with homework is not in their job description. Fridays are special days. When I get to the hospital I put my stuff away in my brother's locker (since I have learned the combination), and because I have all weekend to do homework I procrastinate and don't start it yet. When I go to the front desk Frank tells me where the suspect is hiding and I get ready to cause trouble. I know my way around with my eyes closed by now so I go by myself. When I finally get to his fortress is the hard part, waiting for my brother to get done. When I see him stand up, I get ready to make like a lion and pounce on my prey. Carter always knows that I am there but he always pretends that he doesn't and acts scared anyway. Carter tells me that we are almost done and my second favorite part of the day, dinnertime is on its way. To pass the time I go shoot some hoops outside. I need to work on my shots. When Carter is done he gives me a taste of my own medicine and tries to scare me while I am playing basketball. When the ball drops from my hand, he takes advantage of it and steals the ball. When the both of us are tired out of our minds from playing basketball, we go back inside and wait for dinnertime to arrive. On Fridays dinner is special. The whole gang usually orders something and we eat it in the lounge. Sometimes it is pizza and sometimes it is Chinese. But no matter what we have to eat we all have a fun time just eating and talking. There is always one topic that we talk about that is of no interest of me just because we talk about it all the time and the fact that I don't understand it. Sometimes I think they bring up the subject just to annoy me. But we all laugh at the end because it annoys me so much. Everything at the hospital is routine. Everything from the time you get in from the time that you leave. Part of our leaving routine is when my brother putting away his white doctor coat. While he takes care of his routine I take care of mine and make sure that I have all of my stuff. When the door to his locker opens, I get a peek. He keeps a picture of me inside his locker door, which makes me feel good. When Carter closes his locker I know that it is time to go. As we walk to the door everyone tells us goodnight and that we will see them soon. Once we are out of the door the race starts. We glance at each other and get ready. "On your marks, get set. Go," says Carter and we have a race to his usual parking spot in the hospital parking lot. No matter what he wins every race. And every time I think that he is cheating. It is unlikely to win every race that you run, but no matter what he always wins. I get so annoyed that I give him the "next time I'll get you" glare as we get into the car. When we get home we usually just go to bed from our long day at work. Carter usually stays downstairs and tells me that he'll be up in a minute to tuck me in. While I wait I prepare my plan of attack. I hear him coming up the stairs. You would think that after fifteen years of listening that I would recognize his footsteps. His footsteps hit the ground so hard that I can feel the vibrations all the way in my room. It is so hard for me to pretend that I am asleep because I am so excited about my plan to scare him. My feet twitch, I can hear myself breathe loudly, my eyes won't stay shut and I can't help but not smile. I wiggle a bit lower in my bed so that I can pull the covers over my mouth. I don't want him to realize that I am not really asleep. I wonder if I should pretend to snore but I don't know if I snore when I am asleep. I figure that I don't and don't make any noise. My eyes won't stay shut and I can hear my heart sounding like a drum. Just as the door opens, I get a really bad itch on my leg. I try so hard to not scratch it because then he will know that I am not really asleep. I almost jump and scare him but I wait until I can feel the bed dip down as he sits on it. I can feel his lips kiss me on the cheek, giving me a good night kiss and I know that it is time. POP! My head comes out like a turtle coming out of its shell. And again it does not even make a mark, but I get paid back for it in the worst way. The horrible, terrible, awful, tickle machine comes out. I don't think that there is one moment where there are no sounds of laughter. We laugh so hard that I feel like I could almost pee in my pants, although I never do. I was glad that school was almost over so that there would be a lot more laughing, fun and playing jokes. It's the laughing that tires me out and puts me to sleep. 


	2. Figure It Out

School was over and I was waiting for my BIG surprise. Because it would ruin the surprise of it all he did not tell me anything. Every night at dinner I asked him what the news was and he always had the same answer "I am not going to tell you." or "That's for me to know and you to find out!!!!" It really got me mad when he said stuff like that. Then finally he told me that he would soon reveal the news to me. I could not get to sleep that night just thinking about what Carter had in store for me. Little did I know that I something unexpected in store for me just around the corner the next morning. The next morning I woke up around 8:00. No one else was awake and that is a rare sight. I just love to sleep. If I had the chance I could sleep all day. I have the ambition to clinch the world record for longest time sleeping and since there is no record it will be pretty easy. But that was not my thought now. I had a really bad stomachache and it really hurt. It wasn't like a regular stomachache though. It was more of a sharp pain. I tried to get rid of it every way that I could and every way that my brother had taught me. I took Tums®. I tried putting a heating pad on my stomach. I did the last thing I knew how to do without any one teaching me to; I went into my brother's room and woke him up. I might have also gone into my parents' room but ever since Bobby died they have not been home for long periods of time. It was a good thing that he did not have a shift until later that day. This was one of the times that having my brother do the job that he does came in handy. "Carter, Carter," I whispered. His eyes opened slowly. "Carter, I have a bad stomachache and it won't go away. I tried everything but it still hurts." The next few hours were the worst. My stomachache didn't go away. When nothing helped my brother, being the doctor that he is, made the decision to go to the hospital. Right then we jumped into our car and drove to the hospital, but not with out my favorite stuffed animal, a bear that I got on vacation. The drive was only ten minutes if you counted the amount of time spent at traffic lights. I did not even have to ask what hospital that we were going to because whenever one of my family members get sick we know that we will get good care at County General and this time was no exception. It was actually weird though now I was on the other side, the receiving side. In the hospital I was taken to a room and got the best care because everyone knew me. I first saw Abby, the nurse. Abby was the greatest. She always said hi to me in the halls and she would sometimes help me on my Friday afternoon missions and sometimes comes out with me and plays basketball. But this time our relationship was different. She was now taking care of me, but she was still her nice self. She came in and sat down in the black padded wheeling chair. I always play with those when I visit. It was weird to be at the hospital and not be able to fool around. As I lay down in my comfortable hospital bed in a nice room all by myself, I thought about the horror I had gotten into. Then I got a peek of my worst fear, the weapon. I felt my brother's big hand grab mine. He told me that I could squeeze as hard as I could and wanted to. I was glad that he was the one that was there with me.  
Before the terror started I tried to think of something that I liked to do. I started thinking about all the fun times I've had with my brother. Playing basketball and beating him, playing games in the hospital and so much more. And then it hit me how weird it was to see my brother in action. He was now my doctor and stopped being my brother for just one second. I mean, I had seen him working before but now that I was related to him it was so strange. While talking to myself and preparing for the worst, Abby was getting ready for the moment of disaster. "1.," I closed my eyes "...2..." I started to squeeze my brother's hand and my bear "..3..." pinch!! It was over. My eyes squished and I winced, but no crying or anything (although I did have tears in my eyes). I had actually made it and made such a big fuss over something so small. From the stories that other kids tell me it seemed like it would hurt forever. But they were wrong. It only hurt for one second. Afterwards Carter jokingly said that he needed a hand x-ray because I had squeezed it so hard and asked if he need to save my bear thinking that I had killed it. We all laughed. I heard Abby and Carter talking about the next step but I could not make out what they were saying. Even if I did hear them it would not make a difference because they were using some terms that I did not understand. While the two of them talked I could tell that something was going on between the two of them except I did not know what. Actually I knew a long time ago that something was going on between the two of them. For the past month or two, Abby had begun to join us after work. It did not really change our routine but it was really weird. Sometimes instead of Doc Magoo's we would go to a nicer restaurant for dinner. Just then I saw Dr. Susan Lewis, who said that she was going to check me out, since it would be weird for my brother to examine me and he was not the doctor, he was the patient's family. Susan felt around my stomach and I told her where it hurt. Then she did something that I did not suspect. She started to tickle me but it hurt so much that I could not laugh and that was something that I loved to do. That is when everybody knew I was really sick. Then she used her stethoscope which felt really cold on both my stomach and my back. When she was done she got up and told the person on the other line of the phone that we needed a surgical consult. A couple minutes later, I saw Dr. Elizabeth Corday, who I knew from my visits, walking towards my room. I hoped that she was coming to see me and I was right. She walked right into my room. She also felt my stomach and I told her where it hurt. While she examined me we talked about how we shared names, but how we spelled it differently and how we hated it when people spelled it wrong. It was really fun and it took my mind off of my pain. Then Carter and Lizzie talked in private. I could not really hear what they were saying but I did not really want to. When everybody left, I told Carter when everybody left about how I felt. I was so scared. I got really nervous and he told me that everything was going to be alright and explained to me what was going to happen. Nothing seemed to be going right but having Carter there made up for it.  
In my hospital gown, I was rolled to the x-ray machine for a CAT scan. The x-ray took about ten minutes and I was back with Carter and again hugged my bear. After the x-ray, the doctors told me what was going to happen. I needed an operation. They told me everything that I needed to know. I was going to be put to sleep so that I wouldn't feel a thing. The operation would only take about an hour. By now I was really scared and nervous, but Lizzie and Carter assured me that everything was gong to be okay. They helped a little bit, but I still wasn't sure. It also helped to know who was going to be in the room with me and I knew that they were going to take care of me. Carter asked Lizzie if he could scrub in and help out with my surgery. I shook my head and jokingly said that I did not want him to touch the inside of me because I did not trust him. We all chuckled. But just then my brother got a page that he was needed down at the ER. I had no idea that he had a shift today. As I was wheeled in to the OR, Carter told me that he had to take care of something downstairs and would try to come and visit when I was done. I heard Carter tell Lizzie, as I was wheeled into the operating room, to page him when I was done. I felt reassured and hopeful that he would keep his promise. I knew that he had to come too, because he had taken my bear since I could not bring it in to the OR. He told me that when I was done he would make sure that he would bring it to me. In the operating room I was lifted up onto the operating table. On the table the nurses gave me the anesthesia so that I would not feel anything during the surgery. That was the last thing I remembered. I opened my eyes in a different room hoping to see my brother standing close beside me. But he was not there. He had broken his promise. It was a little hard for me to sleep that night for a few reasons. The one reason was I was not in my room with my own bed. I felt so afraid and alone. But once I remembered that Carter was just downstairs because he had just started his shift and was easily reachable whenever I needed him, I closed my eyes and went to sleep. Before my eyes closed I remembered about my bear, I looked around it was nowhere to be seen. He had not come yet. When I woke up the sky was getting darker and the sun was setting. I did not know what time it was though since I did not have the clock beside my bed at home. Even though I had slept for a long time I was still tired from the events that happened. I had a hard time falling back asleep though. I had absolutely nothing to do. It is weird but I actually wanted homework to do then. Then I knew I was really bored. But all in all, I was glad it was summer so that I would not have to go back to school when I got better. I just sat in bed and did nothing. Just then I heard a knock on the door. It was Dr. Susan Lewis. She brought me some things to keep me busy. I also told her how much I wanted Carter to be with me through this. She knew that he would never leave me for that long because I was his favorite person in the whole world and that he was probably swamped down in the ER with patients and work. She told me that I had nothing to worry about and that he would show up as soon as he could and that he was in the building so it was easy for him to visit and come on a minutes notice. She really helped me keep up my faith and hope. I really wanted Carter there. It seemed for ever since he had last seen me. But I remembered what Susan had said and tried not to be too unhappy. Another whole day in the hospital meant more of a chance to see Carter. It was almost dark and still no Carter but I kept my head held high.  
I was just about to close my eyes for a little shut-eye, when I heard the door creak open. As the light shone in, I saw the shadows of two people walk through the door. I thought it was some more doctors so I pretended to fall asleep. I was right that it was a doctor but it was a doctor that I had actually wanted to see. When I heard the doctor's voice I knew exactly who it was, but I could not tell who the other person was because I did not hear a voice. I felt like I wanted to run up and hug him, but I still pretended to be asleep so that he would have to wake me up. When he came over to my bed and I could feel the bed dip as he sat down. It is really hard to wake me up and you have to try numerous things before I actually wake up. But my brother knows exactly what to do. I could feel his hands on my sides as he began to bring out the tickle machine.  
"Hey stop that. That tickles. I'm up. I'm up!" as I jumped out from under the covers.  
"I knew that would work. How's my little sis?"  
"That tickled. Everything is fine. I was just worried that you wouldn't come. I was scared! I needed you here! I was really bored." When I looked up I saw that the other person was not a doctor but a nurse. It was Abby, who had been the first one to treat me. Why was she here?  
"I'm sorry. You knew that I would never leave you alone though, right? It's just that we were really busy downstairs and I could not get away. I did visit though but you were asleep and then I keep getting called downstairs so I could not wait for you to wake up." "Excuses! Excuses!" "Hey, I was saving lives down there." "Alright, I guess that will work." "I have something to give you though" I wondered what it was. Then he told me to close my eyes and open my hands. When I tried to get a peek, he told me to keep them closed. Then I felt something soft and fuzzy in my hands and he told me I could open my eyes. Finally he had kept his promise and had brought back my bear. I gave him the biggest hug that you have ever seen. "So what have you been doing? Have you gotten out of bed yet" I shook my head. "Well, the quicker that you get out of bed the quicker you can go home. Why don't we try it?" Carter said sarcastically. I did not want to get out of my comfortable bed, but Dr. Carter gave the orders around here and now I had to follow them! So my brother and I went on a little walk around the hospital. "So, what happened while I was gone," he said. "Not that much." and I told him everything that happened from the time he was gone, which only took about three seconds because all I did was sleep We both laughed. I told him how much I wanted him there and how much I missed him. "I was really hoping that you would come and hang out with me." "As soon as I could I dropped everything and came as fast as I could. I would only do that for you." I gave him the puppy face. I knew that he would give into that and he gave me a huge hug. " Hey, you still don't know my little secret, don't you? Well, I guess we will just have to postpone the news until you get better! It won't be that long anyway, only about a month." "Carter, even I know it is not going to take that long. And what does this have to do with the news!!!" "O, Lizzy you are so smart. I love spending time with my favorite sister." "I'm your only sister!" As we laughed, we made our way back to my room.  
While we talked I tried to get the news out of him, but everything I tried did not work. We were back in my room before you knew it. It was not about his job, nor was it about family business. When I could not think of anything else that it would be about I saw Carter give Abby a wink and nod her head. Finally he caved.  
"Well, Lizzy, Abby and I are getting married."  
"WHAT???? You are getting married." I knew something was going on between them. "That's great." 


	3. The Big Day

Well, that was about one month ago and today was the big day. My brother got married. It was beautiful. The grass and the trees were as green as could be. The ceremony was outside an old mansion. The sun was shining bright and it was warm. I had the best seat in the house, right in the front. The music started playing and Abby started down the aisle with her mother arm in arm. She looked so different than most of the times that I had seen her. She was not in her scrubs or wearing sneakers. Her dress was really pretty but I knew what it looked like since I had gone with her to pick it out. My brother, standing ever so straight waiting for those "I dos," looked so different but I could not put my finger on it. There was something about him that just did not look normal. It was not that he was in his black and white suit and not his blue hospital scrubs, but something that no one could see except for him. Throughout the day I was not letting myself go unnoticed. I chatted away with everyone including some of my cousin's doctor friends. Dr. Benton and Dr. Corday were asking how I was doing. Dr. Corday's husband, Dr. Greene was there too. I had a nice talk with Dr. Lewis during the dancing. I thanked her for her support during my hospital visit. Carter had invited everyone from the hospital that he knew and worked with in the past. Luka, Carol, and Doug were just some of them. There were a lot of kids there. Carol and Doug brought Tess and Kate. Rachel, Dr. Greene's daughter was there also. Dr. Benton even brought Reese with him. I was glad to have them to hang around with. Although I liked hanging around with kids, we all decided that we would have more fun hanging around with the "cool guys" As our little trademark; we went around tapping people on the shoulder and then either pretending that we didn't do anything and blaming on someone else. We had a lot of fun playing around. The kids also pretended that we were sick and fall down to the ground so that someone would have to help us. There was one incident where I kept bent over and agonizing that my stomach hurt and that I thought I was appendicitis, but they all knew that it was impossible for me to have it again. As people were leaving and the crowd was getting smaller and smaller by the minute, Carter and Abby were saying their "good-byes" as people left. They were getting ready to leave themselves. As they got ready to leave I had a sinking feeling. I hoped that Carter would not forget something like he always does. To my surprise it seemed like they weren't even going to say goodbye to me. Crossing my fingers, I hoped that he wouldn't forget. "Hey, aren't you forgetting something?" I had to remind them as they walked by. Carter stopped, looked around, and started walking past me as if he didn't realize what I was talking about. He stopped yet again and looked like he was making sure he had done everything as he paced back and forth. As his eyes lit up and a smile appeared on his face, he came running back with his arms wide open and gave me a big hug. I had a feeling that he wouldn't go away without saying good-bye to his little troublemaker. "I told you that I would get you back." And oh, boy did he get me. I knew that he would never leave without saying good-bye to his favorite and only sister. And now there was another woman in the house to talk to about girl things. And if I ever was sick or needed to go to the hospital again I knew that I would never be alone. 


End file.
